Rene,
Beth and I met Jo and Trinket at the Caltex station
in Magalang and proceeded to PAC. Upon arriving at
the Veterinary Studies bldg., we immediately began
bird watching across the road from the bldg. There's
some wetland/grassland and a bunch of trees next to
that, leading to a forest. Rene identified the call
of the White-collared Kingfisher and we all tried
in vain to find it. Striated Grassbirds, Zebra Doves
and Yellow-vented Bulbuls were plentiful.

Black-naped Oriole

Dr. Villamil arrived around 6:15
and took us in his Pajero to a forest road where we
all got out and heard several bird calls. A Lesser
Coucal flew out of a tree by our side and we could
hear a Philippine Coucal further away, never being
able to locate it. Sunbirds, Philippine Bulbuls and
Red Turtle Doves could be heard. I was the only one
who saw the 2 Olive- backed Sunbirds at the top of
the trees, though.

From
here, Dr. Villamil drove us to another area of the
college grounds that are being rented to some VIP's
and were restricted. Driving by, though, we saw many
Chestnut Munias in a Mango grove. A large grassland
provided us sights of Cinnamon Bitterns and a Lesser
Coucal again plus Scaly-breasted Munias. We also heard
a Cisticola.

Oriental Magpie-robin

Since
we had come primarily to see forest, Dr. Villamil
drove us to a nice forest that had trails behind the
college and we hiked in there for around an hour or
so. White Collared Kingfishers were in abundance.
In an Acacia tree, we could hear several birds but
it took awhile for us to spot them. When we did, we
were thrilled to see that they were Black- naped Monarchs.
Oriental Magpie Robins were also flying around in
the trees around there. Both of these were lifers
for most of the group. Blue- tailed Bee-eaters circled
overhead. Further on into the forest, a Black- naped
Oriole flew into a tree near us, giving us a great
view of him. Jo was the first to see it and was so
excited. We could also hear Tawny Grassbirds.

Dr.
Villamil left us half way through this hike. He had
had no idea what bird watching was all about and was
dressed as if he was going to a business meeting.
I think the mosquitos and mud quenched his desire
for more though he told us later that he enjoyed the
new experience. He met up with us again after we emerged
from the forest. While we were standing around, a
dove flew to the top of an Ipil Ipil tree far into
the forest. It looked bright pink in the sunlight.
We concurred that it was a Red Turtle Dove after exhausting
Kennedy's dove section.

From there, we went back to the Vet. Studies bldg.
and freshened up. Dr. Villamil provided a nice lunch
for us and we talked with him about planting trees
that would be butterfly and bird friendly. Darwin,
a masters student in Forestry Wildlife, joined us
and we strongly encouraged the 2 of them to join the
club. A tentative hike up Mt. Arayat was planned for
later